A Spanish union affiliated with the populist-conservative party VOX has called for a general strike of all workers on November 24th to protest a law that would grant amnesty to Catalan separatists who attempted an illegal referendum in 2017.
The amnesty law is a concession to the Catalan separatist parties that are supporting the investiture of socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. It will effectively grant amnesty to the plotters of the referendum along with those charged with terrorist offences. It will also include other concessions, such as approval of a new independence referendum and cancelling Catalonia’s debt.
On Monday, the union Solidarity called for a general strike for Friday, November 24th, which will be supported by VOX and its leader Santiago Abascal, El Mundo reports.
“We will not surrender the banners of social justice and national unity,” the union stated, saying that their call was “to all Spaniards, to the rest of the unions, and to all civil society, so that, together with our more than 250 union delegates and more than 500 sections, they join this call.”
VOX leader Santiago Abascal also commented on Monday, saying, “If this investiture is achieved, there will be no return to normality; we are not going to forget.”
On Tuesday, Abascal petitioned the Spanish Supreme Court over the concessions to the Catalan separatists and stated that he was hopeful that the judges would use their power to stop the formation of the government, which he labelled a “coup d’etat.”
The VOX leader has long been outspoken about his opposition to separatist parties in Spain, stating in an interview in 2019 that he wanted to see separatist parties banned entirely.
He also claimed that all branches of government had failed the Spaniards in the face of the separatist movements, except for the Spanish monarchy, which he praised.
“The only institution that has lived through Spain’s historic moments, as well as the only one that has fulfilled its obligations to the Spanish people, has been the Crown,” he said.
Abascal was also present at a demonstration against the amnesty law in Madrid on Monday and was accompanied by former Fox News presenter Tucker Carlson, who posted his presence at the event on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Carlson spoke to the Spanish newspaper El Diario saying, “Anyone who violates the Constitution, who potentially uses physical violence to end democracy, is a tyrant, is a dictator.”
“The world has not seen clearly that what is happening here these days is very important,” Carlson said regarding Sánchez’ concessions to the Catalan separatists, adding, “I hope I can change that.”
According to El Diario, the protest was the eleventh against the amnesty law and follows on from protests last week, such as the protest that took place on Tuesday that saw 30 police and nine others injured and was attended by around 7,000 people. Seven people, meanwhile, were arrested.
The attitude among Spaniards on the subject is not on Sánchez’ side either, with a poll published in September claiming that as many as 70% of the Spanish public are against amnesty for the separatists.
The poll even found that 59% of PSOE voters were also against the idea of amnesty and that 65% of Spaniards would rather another national election be held than form a government that relies on giving the separatists amnesty.
